


Pride is a Horrible Thing

by scarcelyMischievous



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Apologies, Arguments, Choking, Cronus fucks up, Fighting, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Porrim is a good bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-19 18:38:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7373035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarcelyMischievous/pseuds/scarcelyMischievous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Cronus is having a fight with Mituna, Kankri tries to be the peace maker. Cronus isn’t exactly appreciative.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *casually drags things from my old deviantart account on here so I can have more content*

Your name is Cronus Ampora, and you really fucked up.

This wasn't the first time you and Mituna had fought. Hell, it's been a non-stop thing ever since his accident. It was a surprise (to you, at least) that you weren't in the caliginous quadrant by now. This argument, however, turned out to be much worse than the others. Usually the two of you would only spit hateful words at each other, you wouldn't even get a chance to lay a hand on him before Latula or troll Jack fucking Skellington intervened. But it seemed that today was just the day that you two were finally done putting up with each other's shit.

You were both on the ground by now, battered and bloodied by wounds that you've inflicted on each other. The mustard-blood was on top of you, straddling your chest as his hands clenched around your throat. He'd discarded his gloves prior to this to make his scratches more effective. You snarled up at him, your own hands grabbing hold of his wrists and trying to pry them off your throat. He's stronger than he looks, not that you'd ever admit it out loud. Mituna just added more pressure onto his grip, and you let out a strangled gasp as you desperately searched for air. Mituna barred back his teeth and leaned forward, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"Not thho f'nny, ithh it?!" he demanded, and you could almost see vicious white orbs glaring down at you from behind that ridiculous abundance of hair he calls bangs. "Fucking fithh dick...If we weren't dead I'll kill you now!!"

Despite the fact that you were slowly beginning to lose oxygen and your head was starting to feel especially dizzy, you managed to grin at him. It was a cocky grin, filled with confidence you yourself weren't feeling. "Vwouldn't...havwe...the guts," you manage to choke out and fuck, you have to squint at him because your vision is getting blurry. 

Mituna looked like he did, in fact, have the guts to end your life --er, afterlife-- here and now. The accident left his mind severely damaged, and his bipolarity had gotten even more out of control. Sometimes he was lashing at you, and others he was a weak thing that wouldn't dare talk shit. He was unpredictable, and sometimes that was dangerous. Mituna growled down at you and dug his claws into your neck gills and holy SHIT, it's like you've never known pain until this day. You let out a pathetic scream, tears starting to form at the corner of your eyes. You needed to turn the tables in your favor soon or else--

"STOP!!"

Both of your heads turned around to see who was trying to break you two up this time. Thankfully, the diversion had made Mituna loosen his hold on you, and you didn't think twice before shoving him off, greedily gasping in all the air you could. You then turned your attention back up to see who had interrupted your fight. 

Standing there with an extremely worried and concerned expression was Kankri. Normally, you'd be more than happy to see the guy. He's the only person who gives you the time of day to talk and just hang out. But now, for some reason, you couldn't help but scowl. He shouldn't be here, this wasn't something he could just interfere in. 

Kankri frowned down at you both. "What do you think you two are doing?! Look at you, you're a mess! Do you know how much near fatal damage you could have inflicted on each other? Mituna, you nearly KILLED Cronus! I understand that you have issues sometimes when it comes to managing your anger, but honestly, must you have gone this far?!" As usual, he was a rambling mess. Mituna had recoiled, lip quivering slightly as he took in Kankri's words, along with the full pain of his wounds. He covered his face and shook his head quickly, sputtering out useless apologies. Kankri sighed and reached a hand down in offering to help you. "Cronus, how badly are you hurt? Look at your gills, they need to be trea--"  
He stopped short when you slapped his hand away, blinking in shock. He was about to say something, but you stopped with one word.

"Don't."

You got up weakly on your feet, glaring down at him due to the dramatic height difference. Frustration was starting to boil in your chest, and you knew it was probably your pride as a highblood that was getting you so worked up, even if in all actuality you could care less of your spot on the hemospectrum. Maybe it was a part of you that the post-scratch version of you shared. From what you've heard, he didn't exactly approve of people interfering in his battles either. "Ya had no right to do that, chief. That vwas a fight that I alone had to deal vwith, I don't need nobody gettin' in my vway."

Kankri looked appalled at first, then returned the glare. Although, you could tell that he was trying to hide the fact that he was hurt by your words. "Excuse you, Cronus. If anything, you owe me some sort of gratitude! You and Mituna were practically tearing each other to shreds! I've told you time and time again that violence is never the way to solve something, I thought you would listen and take my advice to heart, but apparently I was wrong, wasn't I? Do you even listen to a word I say most of the time?!"

"Vwhy should I listen to a damn thing a fuckin' mutant like you has to say?!" you suddenly snapped, and then blinked. What? Did you...did you actually just say that? You were surprised with yourself, to say the least, and you instantly regretted the words. It was too late to take them back now, though. Kankri's face fell, and there was no more hiding his emotions. The look on his face seemed so pained, like he'd just been betrayed. He balled his hands into fists and turned away from you, his tiny form starting to shake slightly.

"...I see," he said, his voice wavering even though his attempts to make it steady were obvious. "Well then...I-If you really don't need my help, I suppose I'll just be on my way now. Don't bother dropping by to visit anymore, if my presence triggers you then you are by no means obligated to force yourself to see me. "

No. No, this isn't what you wanted. You didn't mean what you said! "K-Kanks, Kankri, wvait, please!" you said, putting a hand on his shoulder and trying to turn him around to face you. "Ya know I care about ya, I don't know vwhy I said that! I'm bein' honest here, chief. You're the only friend I got, I don't vwanna lose ya..."

Kankri didn't seem to be in the mood to put up with you, harshly shrugging your hand away. "Perhaps I should rephrase my statement," he said, glancing at you over his shoulder. "Don't EVER speak with me again. For the love of everything good, just don't. You obviously don't need me. I'm just a burden to you as I am with everyone else. I thought you'd be different, but evidently I was wrong. Goodbye, Cronus."

“Chief, vwait!” You wanted to go after him, but he had already ran off. You gritted your teeth in frustration, the glanced at Mituna to see if he wanted to add on to this. Not to your surprise, he’s back to his cowering self, looking shaken up due to both Kankri’s scolding and watching the argument between you two unfold. You wanted to snap at him, as though all of this was his fault, but held it back. Yelling at him wasn’t going to do you any good, you knew that much. Instead, you turned on your heel and started to follow after Kankri.


	2. Chapter 2

It was hard trying to deal with Cronus sometimes, that much was easy to admit. But you still liked him. And you understood that you yourself could be a bit difficult at times (according to the opinions of others), but Cronus was still more than willing to put up with you. It was like a perfect match between the two of you.

And then every once in awhile he pulls something off like this. At least other people had the courtesy to not call you a mutant to your face, and those who did say the word usually dealt with some sort of mutation themselves. Perhaps it was Cronus forgetting just how privileged he was with his blood color. Whatever it was, you were done with it.

You took an alternative route from the one you assumed Cronus would follow, which was the one to your hive. Rather, the place you were going was one even you wouldn't normally think of approaching.

Porrim opened the door after barely two knocks. Judging by her attire, which was a simple black tank top and green shorts, she wasn’t expecting company.

She seemed surprised to see you, since it was extremely rare for you to come here on your own accord. She looked like she was about to question you, but apparently the look on your face was enough to show that you didn't feel like answering any questions. Instead, she merely rushed you in, closing the door behind you. 

“Tea?” she offered.

“That'd be lovely,” you admitted, not sparing her a second glance as you headed for the living room. She followed in a short while later with two cups of tea, handing you one of them. You accepted it gratefully, sipping it without a word.

The room was silent for a few moments. Only Porrim didn't find that out of the ordinary when it came to you; she was the closest person you would ever admit to being a moirail. In all honesty, your stubbornness to let her into that quadrant would cease soon enough, just as it had before you and Cronus became matesprits.

You frowned at the thought, and Porrim noticed. “What happened, Kanny?” she asked. 

You didn't even bother reminding her that you didn't appreciate the nickname. Rather, you just sighed and took another sip of the tea. “I won't bore you with all of the details,” you started, and she nearly scoffed because that was what you always did. “I broke up a fight between Cronus and Mituna because Mituna was doing some serious damage. Rather than thank me or even regard me positively, Cronus became upset and said something along the lines of ‘not needing help from a mutantblood’. I don't particularly like remembering that.”

Porrim gaped, and then her eyes narrowed as her anger became more evident. “Unbelievable!” she explained. “You were helping him, and he knows how you feel about that word! I should go over to him and finish the asshole off myself--”

“Porrim, please.” You rubbed your temples. “I don't want anything that could possibly make this situation even more problematic than it already is.”

She definitely didn't seem like she wanted to follow that, but rather than argue, she continued forth with the conversation. “So what are you going to do now?”

“Well, perhaps I'll talk this over with Cronus later, but…” You sunk down in your seat, turtleneck rising up to cover your mouth. “I'd rather not deal with him right now. I hope you understand.”

“Of course I understand, I never want to deal with him,” Porrim said, but she attempted to keep her tone sympathetic. “You can stay here as long as you need, okay?”

You nod. “Hopefully it won't be too long,” you say, but she seemed to sense your gratitude well enough that she didn't remark.

 

*****

 

It was only a few hours before Cronus came knocking at the door.

Porrim had been fixing up dinner while you were reading a book, trying to get your mind off him. As soon as you heard the knock, Porrim locked eyes with you. You frowned and looked back at your book as a sign that you didn't want to be bothered. She nodded and went to the door to deal with it herself.

“What do you want, Cronus?” you heard her ask, and you shrunk into your seat even though you knew there was no way anyone could see you from here.

“You see Kankri around anywhere?” Cronus asked, and your bloodpusher clenched at the sound of his voice. Ugh, you wished he didn't make you so angry, you missed him.

“What did you do this time?” she asked, sounding disapproving and like she genuinely didn't know.

Cronus sighed. “I fucked up, said somethin’ I shouldn't’vwe. I need ta talk ta him, apologize.”

“And what did you say, exactly?” Porrim asked.

“I…” He sighed. “I called him a mutantblood. I vwas just so angry, I'd just been fightin’ Mit, and I took out some a’ that anger out on Kankri. It vwas messed up, he didn't deservwe it.”

“You're right, he didn't,” Porrim said sternly. You could just imagine the unforgiving glare she was shooting at Cronus. But what he was saying...He truly sounded apologetic. Could you really be mad at him? “You know you can't blame your anger on all of this completely, don't you? If this happens again--”

“Ah shit, Porrim, I know,” Cronus said in a nearly pleading voice. “I'll nevwer make the mistake again. And if I do, I'll face the consequences. Vwhatevwer Kankri vwants, just-- I need to talk to him myself--”

You let out a sigh and finally got out of your seat, coming into view. You saw Cronus, still outside, and his earfins were raised hopefully at the sight of you. “K-Kankri…?”

Porrim looked over her shoulder at you, an eyebrow raised, but she backed away and headed to the kitchen, deciding that she wasn't needed. You approached Cronus, looking up at him and trying to keep your expression neutral. “Good evening, Cronus.”

He looked like he wanted to hug you, but he was visibly restraining himself. “So I'm guessin’ you heard all that?” 

“I did,” you answered, crossing your arms.

He let out a shaky breath. “I'm sorry I called ya that, Kankri, I know how much ya hate it. I regretted it the moment it slipped out,” he said. “Look, if ya really wvant space, some time avway from me or evwen all the time in the vworld, I'll respect it. I just needed to see ya, ta givwe you a proper apology--”

“Cronus,” you interrupted, and he immediately shut up, looking down at you with wide eyes. “Look, I forgive you. But I want you to take steps into ensuring that nothing like that happens again. This includes getting into fights with Mituna. You easily provoke each other without being in a proper kismesitude, and the way you almost kill each other with every encounter is not only unhealthy but it worries me half to double death! If you would avoid each other and stop getting on each other's nerves, there would be a significant improvement in your personalities. Of course, to be honest, I can't exactly say the same for Mituna, but you get my point.”

Cronus let out a choked laugh, like he was somehow glad to hear you ramble at him again, but he nodded. “I get it, Kankri. I'll stay avway. Vwhatevwer you wvant, consider it done. Anythin’ for the guy I lovwe.”

You couldn't help but smile at that. “I'm glad we have that settled then,” you said.

He nodded, and then bit his lip. “Ya think you're feelin’ up for a hug?”

Your smile widened and you nodded, and without wasting another second, he scooped you up in arms and twirled you around, and you laughed, hugging him back.

Porrim cleared her throat, and you both jolted in surprise, turning around. “So is this settled between you two?” she asked.

You pulled away from Cronus and nodded hastily. “Ah, yes. It appears so,” you said. 

Porrim looked critically at the both of you, then directed her attention mainly at Cronus. “If you mess this up one more time Ampora…”

“I vwon’t, promise!” he said.

You rolled your eyes. “Thank you for everything you've done Porrim. Truly. But for now, I think we should be good.”

“Absolutely,” Cronus agreed.

Porrim narrowed her eyes, but shook her head with a faint smile. “All right, all right. Fine. Go off and do whatever gross thing it is that you do.”

Your face heated up at the suggestion, and you were about to explicitly scold her on just how that was not in fact the case, before Cronus just looped his arm with yours. “If ya insist,” he said with a wink, and lead you out of the hive. Sigh. If only you were still upset enough to lecture him as well.


End file.
